STONER MOUNTAIN BLOG

31 December, 2016

I'm presenting you The Unholy 13, my top albums of the year. It's a totally subjective list and these are only the stoner/doom/sludge/retro rock albums that I consider personal favourites. It was quite hard to make a solid selection out of all those wonderful albums released in 2016. I also wanted to pick more underground bands, so you won't see here bands like Witchcraft or Blood Ceremony. Of course compared to Adele or The Weeknd they are still very underground, but you get the idea, right?

I also want to say thank you so much to everyone who visited my blog. 2016 was a good year for Stoner Mountain.

13. Dunbarrow - Dunbarrow

Nothing new here, but I just love this album. The overall sound is very Witchcraft/Pentagram-esque, but can you blame them? It's just like Magnus Pelander sang - 'It is the Pentagram. It's got your soul again and you never be free!'. Easy listening and no skipping needed, just press play.

12. Stone Witch - Order of the Goat

11. Conan - Revengeance

Conan's Revengeance is a beast. Heavy as fuck and extremely slow at times, but also has some well-placed faster moments that brings together a favourable combination of blast beats and doom, which really gets you into a head banging mood.

10. Old Blood - Old Blood

Another wonderful female fronted doom band. Old Blood mixes a bluesy vibe with psychedelic and doom sounds, creating dense, spaced-out atmospherics. They describe their sound as acid doom and that's probably the best description. Of course, I cannot forget about the soft, beautiful, almost smooth jazz-like vocals.

9. Electric Citizen - Higher Time

Electric Citizen had me in 2014 with their superb debut album Sateen. It was a great, highly energetic mix of 70’s psych rock and vintage doom with hypnotic Siouxsie Sioux-style vocals. Higher Time builds forward on that formula, bringing just slightly updates to their overall sound. The album is more consistent but ultimately not as good as Sateen.

8. Bright Curse - Before The Shore

Bluesy and heavy stoner/doom grooves from the UK. Before The Shore is so thrilling, that it’s hard to believe it’s the product of just three people. The album is chock-full of muscular guitar sounds, powerhouse drums, prominent bass and amazing, clean vocals. There's definitely a Witchcraft and Graveyard vibe.

7. Winter Moon - Hearts and Hands EP

Yes, it's another female fronted retro rock, but they have a unique and refreshing style that will appeal to a broad range of tastes. I just love how Winter Moon transcend many classic rock genres like blues rock, psych-rock, hard rock and it still sounds modern. The songwriting is taut, soaring and shows how a real band crafts their tunes once the writer has penned the initial song. The musicianship is at a high level. Each song is haunting in its own way with the guitars wailing, drums banging, keyboards conjuring melodies and soulful powerhouse vocals. Read the whole review

6(66). Psychic Dose - Myrkviðr

The best example why it's good to wait with the 'Best of' list until the end of the year. Psychic Dose's second album was released just 10 days ago. Their music is heavier now, characterized by a more sinister and morbid sound; less 70's proto/traditional doom metal and more 80's doom metal/heavy metal. The production is much better and the vocals...Holy Smokes! The vocals are so fucking awesome. Singer Amanda Howell can touch your soul with her smoky powerhouse voice one minute, then completely melt your face off with passionate higher pitched vocals and harsh screams. Read the whole review

5. Haunted - Haunted

Think of it as Electric Wizard teaming up with Pentagram adding female vocals, a dark, doomy sound played in a funky, rockin' psychedelic way. I'm just addicted to their overall sound and the catchiness of each of their songs. From the hauntingly beautiful vocals to the monolithic riffs. This is exactly how we want all of our records to sound like. Read the whole review

4. Messa - Belfry

It was a battle for the fourth place between two Italian newcomers, Haunted and Messa, like a classic Serie A match between Juventus and Roma. ‘Belfry’ is searingly honest and brilliantly uncompromising, but also stuff full of hooks. There’s a lot of diversity present. It's a refreshing take on doom metal taking inspiration from different genres like drone, ambient and industrial. The sound is Heavy, melodic, immersive, trippy. And last, but not least, Sara's voice is beautiful and powerful, to the point of leaving you speechless.

3. Salem's Pot - Pronounce This!

The child of Electric Wizard and the younger brother of Windhand. They finally established their sound. Yes, it's much softer now, but guess what? They've never sounded better! Pronounce This! is a top notch and surprisingly diverse sounding album, there's even a sweet, laid back country-blues track!

2. Grajo - Grajo

Another female fronted newcomer on the list. Grajo nailed it with their self-titled debut. These guys have a really groovy Saint Vitus-esque vibe around their sound. Combine this with mountainous riffs and you're in for a ten ton trip. Yes, it's heavy, but very melodic at the same time, with mesmerising dreamy vocals. A perfect combination, very refreshing. Trust me, you'll get addicted in no time. Read the whole review

1. Mountain Dust - Nine Years

The King is dead, long live The King! Because Mountain Dust is like a spiritual successor to Sweden's Graveyard. Heavy, bluesy 70's hard rock with loud, soulful clean vocals that are clear and have a wonderful bluesy tone to them. Nine Years is their full-length debut album and it already tipped Mountain Dust into the big leagues. It's got fistfuls of energy and manages to have an identity of it's own, which isn't easy. The seven tracks on this record contain enough traces of different acid/psychedelic rock, early heavy metal and even some traditional doom to make classic rock fans lose themselves for a few hours.

31 December, 2016

The second band from Russia is Voodoo Idol, a refreshing alternative/stoner rock trio from Moscow. Sense is Voodoo Idol's first full-length album, released in September, the record consists of nine stunning tracks, in which the band manage to combine experimentation with various genres.

Voodoo Idol take inspiration from alternative rock, psychedelic, pop rock and of course, stoner rock, that gives us a perfect balance of heavy grooviness and an almost poppy catchiness. Alina Goldobina, the woman behind Voodoo Idol, has a knack for drifting melodies and soft, soothing singing. The rhythm section is tight, with a rolling bass and precise drumming. Songs like (Welcome to the) Vault, Ghost and Hell On Wheels are a great example of psychedelia and powerful rock, while songs like Those Signs Led, Hero and Tango show the band's softer, danceable side. I especially like the rolling bass, the stuttering drum beat.

Overall, Sense is full of shiny hooks and standout moments. It's a catchy album that you will love immediately and put on repeat for some time. Now let the music do the talking. Recommended!

30 December, 2016

I'm still doing some old requests. So let me take you to trip to Russia to meet these two bands, Voodoo Idol and Temnee. Let's start with the second one.

Temnee is a massive heavy psych instrumental, stoner rock band from Tver (it's located about 160 kilometers north west of Moscow).

Dialectics, Temnee's full-length debut album is a wild psych-stoner ride. The whole album is crammed full of ideas and the breadth of genres covered results in some intriguing music. It's a generally great and always entertaining mash of psychodelia, stoner rock, 70s space rock, krautrock, sweet fuzzy riffage, catchy hooks and even some hard blues based rock and roll. It's filled with tsunamis of chunky riffs, ear-splitting solos, low-end bass and groovy jams — like the soundtrack to a psychedelic drug film.

Sometimes the best releases never receive as much credit as they deserve, and this is one of them. It's an awesome fuzzy, heavy psych instrumental gem you cannot miss!

28 December, 2016

Padres del Yermo is a young, psychedelic/space/desert rock four-piece from Buenos Aires, that brings us some stunning cosmic soul-soothing jams. Their Demo was released on October 17.

The demo is the band's debut and it offers six long songs of tight, riff-fueled fuzziness filled with that wonderful Argentinian vibe of space, stoner and psychedelic rock. The cosmic and warm sound is key with this promising band. They may sing in Spanish but I'm sure their songs will speak to you anyway. Listen to La Importancia del Mito to get the perfect feel of a song you never want to stop, even though it's almost 8 minutes long. Then the heavy, drilling Fuego fatuo, which creates a heavy, somber mood that is sometimes dark and deep and then warm and relaxing. Then, the groovy, upbeat El mandato, with a dirty bassline, monotonal hypnotised vocals...

Haven't you heard enough? Just go and get a copy of their demo. It's definitely worth downloading it. Pay what you want through the Bandcamp link below.

21 December, 2016

As festival season creeps closer and closer, Desertfest London has gone ahead and announced another amazing bands to it's already killer line-up.

Enjoy an early Christmas treat from DESERTFEST LONDON, with their last announcement for this year and a dozen more bands to join the festival's lineup on April 28-30th, 2017.

Conjurers of atmospheric black metal WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM are back on the warpath and headed straight for Camden! Doom pioneers SAINT VITUS make their Desertfest London debut, with founding vocalist Scott Reagers in tow.

Jamming psychsters STONED JESUS will be playing a special set of their album "Seven Thunders Roar" back to back, and as if it wasn't enough, we've got brutality - from WEAR YOUR WOUNDS, EARTH SHIP and IRON WITCH - and insanity - from BACKWOODS PAYBACK and one of the UK's most exciting doom acts, MAMMOTH WEED WIZARD BASTARD.

We've also got your stoner rock covered with STEAK, your 70s worship is sorted with DEAD LORD and your psych is all over the place with PONTIAK. And the party doesn't stop with Sleep this year, as the festival invited Canadian party rock foursome CHRON GOBLIN to play us out in style at the official after party... ~ Purple Sage PR

20 December, 2016

Some of you might know these four freaks from Fort Myers, Florida from their great lo-fi retro doom debut from 2015. Psychic Dose just released their second full-length studio album, titled Myrkviðr. It's so fresh that it's still warm.

The band's sound has notably evolved since their debut album Satyrnalia. The lyrics are still influenced by paganism and fantasy, but the music is heavier, characterized by a more sinister and morbid sound; less 70's proto/traditional doom metal and more 80's doom metal/heavy metal. The production is much better and the vocals...Holy Smokes! The vocals are so fucking awesome. Singer Amanda Howell can touch your soul with her smoky powerhouse voice one minute, then completely melt your face off with passionate higher pitched vocals and harsh screams. Which reminds me of Dax Riggs's singing in the mighty Acid Bath. Enough with the vocals, because the music is equally awesome. Psychic Dose assaults you with thunderous guitar riffs, explosive bass lines, and pounding drums. There is a decent amount of variation between the songs with slower, doomy songs like Lycnthropic State, Phantoms and Fall of the Valkyrie, as well as more up-tempo stuff like Maenad and The Doom of Sarnath.

Anyway, I'd suggest this fantastic album to anyone who likes their metal with a special, more sinister edge. Although this album might feel dark, but it also provides a strange feeling of enjoyment and makes you want to get up to bang your head. Let's dance the electric Pagan Love Song!

19 December, 2016

BCMC is a noise rock / stoner rock duo from Montevideo, Uruguay consisting of Bruno Conti on drums and Matías Cor on vocals/guitars. They just released their two-track debut record, wich can be downloaded for free from their Bandcamp.

On their first release they bring forth their South American stoner rock with a dose of punk energy, inspired by the good old Queens of the Stone Age. If you are in the mood for choppy riffs and loud pounding drums, that makes you swoon and wanna bang your head at the same time, then check these guys out. You might not understand the lyrics of BCMC, but you don't have to - the rhythm and the vocals are too catchy not to appreciate. Show them some love!

18 December, 2016

Baron Crane is an instrumental band from Paris, France which alternates its style skilfully between jazz, noise and stoner rock to create beautiful soundscapes. They have released a new six-song EP that can be downloaded for free on Bandcamp. Make sure to check out their fantastic self-titled debut EP.

Baron Crane's music is very thoughtful, quite challenging but highly rewarding. It lurches cleverly between incredibly energetic yet memorable melodies, ambition and experimentation. Their well-received previous release proved they are one of the most creative and compelling acts in the stoner rock underground. Once again the band blends progressive rock, jazz rock, noise and stoner rock elements, casting all music boundaries aside, to create epic rhythms and nasty grooves.

Swirling with different time signatures, musical styles and rapturous energy, Baron Crane prove that genres are for the common man and that genius lies in the outliers. It might turn off some conventional rock lovers, but for those who would like to listen to creativity being tested, they will love Electric Shades. It is truly a work of art!

16 December, 2016

So far, this is one of my favourite releases of this month. Meet High Priest, four young lads from Chicago, Illinois. They couldn't have found a better way to jump into the public consciousness than Consecration, High Priest's first record in which they deploy 5 great songs.

The band combines a slow, monumental riffing attitude with heavy-psych sounds, inspired by stoner rock and doom metal. Sometimes High Priest even sounds like a doomier version of Alice In Chains. Consecration is a thrill ride from start to finish. Heavy, brooding tunes make up the entire album and each track stands out on its own. It's hard to pick a favourite, but mine is probably Alone a short, but rockin' song that has the potential to make you headbang.

You can grab this highly impressive digital debut for...free. Yep, it's a name your price download from Bandcamp. Of course, as always I strongly recommend you to donate a few dollars to the respective artist, so they can continue releasing great music.

15 December, 2016

The Los Angeles-based band recently released their first, self-titled EP. It has an awesome modern retro, heavy psych / traditional doom sound that reminds one of 1/3 Jimi Hendrix, 1/3 Pentagram and 1/3 Led Zeppelin. Damn, count me in!

It's bluesy, heavy, catchy, and full of crunchy riffs with a great bassist and fantastic drummer rocking along. Roast harkens back to the hard psychedelic rock of the late 60s and early 70s, and even early progressive rock. You simply get it all on this release: Leave Me Free is a crazy Purple Haze-esque track, Serpent shows us the doomy side of Roast and Gypsy Trip and Heavy Toll have a slower, blues-heavy feel.

If you like classic doom/blues, then this is a no-brainer. So do yourself a favour and don't waste another second, hit the buy it button, put your headphones on and float away to the sounds of Roast. You will not be disappointed!

13 December, 2016

The final headliner has been announced for Desertfest London 2017, and it's Sleep! The stoner metal pioneers return to Desertfest London to headline the Roundhouse venue on Sunday 30th April, 2017. Sleep is to join acts such as Slo Burn, Candlemass, Turbonegro and Lowrider. Who would have thought just 10 years ago that this lengendary bands would be playing together.

After conquering Koko in 2015, SLEEP are back at Desertfest; this time to reign at the Roundhouse. That’s right, not only did the festival bag seminal doom legends Sleep to headline their sixth edition, but the Desertfest crowd will also be descending on the iconic Roundhouse for the whole of the Sunday.

13 December, 2016

I know December is supposed to be all about lights and happy times, but here's a band that is almost exactly the opposite. So this is the kind of thing you might like to hear on a foggy winter's day.

There are three of them, they call themselves Endless Floods and they've recorded an awesomely bleak and hard-hitting drone doom sophomore album which is sure to make waves everywhere when released on January 6. But until then you can listen to the record on their Bandcmp and on Cvlt Nation.

I discovered Endless Floods shortly after their debut album was released, but never really got into them. The sound on II is heavy, highly atmospheric, deeply dark and...really "pure", it's like these guys are playing a live jam session right in front of you. Either you love it or you hate it, and I'm starting to love it nowadays. These guys create an incredibly detailed wall of sound filled with sludge, doom, drone, ambient, noise and even some shoegaze-like elements. Mesmerizingly slow chord progressions and huge sounds create a compelling sonic landscape. But it may often surprise you with very pretty, relaxing melodies, which is a breath of fresh air after all the crushing heaviness.

Overall, this album is pretty amazing and Endless Floods is now probably one of the most unique and heavy French bands out there. This music is not for everybody, but give it a listen....it could become one of your favourite albums. Very highly recommended!

12 December, 2016

De Marvells is a four-piece project from southern Norway inspired by Tarantino's film scores, Hawkwind, The Savage Rose, The Allman Brothers, Nick Cave and PJ Harvey. When those worlds collide and become one, magic happens. The young quartet mixes bluesy guitar shredders with a heavy amount of grit evocative of alternative rock’s golden era in the ’90s and great vocals, with amazing and highly addictive results.

Dark Love is the first single off their forthcoming debut album and it is definitely a marker of good things to come from this band.

09 December, 2016

Dead Witches have just announced that they’ll be releasing their long-awaited debut album, Ouija, on February. 10, 2017. The album will be available on Black vinyl, LTD Purple vinyl, CD and digital. With that news also comes a really cool cover art for the album, which can be viewed above.

Drummer Mark Greening (former Electric Wizard, also of Ramesses and With The Dead) and vocalist Virginia Monti (Psychedelic Witchcraft) joined forces to found the heaviest occult psych superbeast to see the light this year: DEAD WITCHES. Coming as a nice surprise for fans of the aforementioned bands and more generally, of crushing psychotropic doom, the formation of this supergroup led to the high anticipation of their debut album, which details were just revealed today. - PURPLE SAGE PR

01 December, 2016

I've got some wonderful news for you. Are you ready for this? Slo Burn will reunite next year for Desertfest London. That’s right, fucking Slo Burn! Could there be any better news for my 200th post?

What better place for a SLO BURN reunion than DESERTFEST LONDON, folks? The legendary desert rock unit fronted by none other than the master himself – John Garcia – is set to ravish all desert and stoner rock fans from the outset with a one-off performance in Camden this April.

It's been twenty years since John Garcia's desert rock supergroup SLO BURN released their unique album "Amusing The Amazing", leaving the whole stoner rock scene gambling on a plausible return.

After previously welcoming John Garcia's Unida, DESERTFEST LONDON is now more than honored to host another Palm Desert cornerstone act in Camden. The reunion lineup will comprise John Garcia on vocals, Damon Garrison, Erickson Houghton and Chris Hale, whom will perform their all-time classics "Pilot The Dune", "July", "Muezli", as well as songs taken off the Kyuss catalog.

Other bands announced include headliners Turbonegro, but also Candlemass, Lowrider, Samsara Blues Experiment, Black Spiders, Satan's Satyrs, The Picturebooks, 1000Mods, and dozens more to be confirmed.

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